|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

Every man or woman ever born has had a unique plan written for their lives before the womb: Psalms 139:16-17 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! This plan is utterly good, because it was written by the one who is the fullness of every good thing. God is the infinite expression of EVERY good thing. There is no one who could "out-good" God, otherwise that thing or person would usurp Him as God. God's very nature requires that He be the fullness of any attribute He ascribes to Himself. He is the source of the river from which every good thing flows: Mark 10:18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. God has chosen love, because He is good. Love requires that I choose whether or not I will agree with God. Love required the tree of rebelli...

John 3:36 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” The depth of the meaning of this verse is like a vein of gold that extends deep into the earth. It is a treasure that will be mined forever, but it is one that has serious implications in this immediate time. Tomorrow on earth is not guaranteed to anyone. The veil between our natural existence and eternity is thin, and is crossed easily and often. Generally, crossing that veil only happens in one direct: life > death > life eternal. When the Bible talks about eternal life, it is easy to think about eternity "linearly." Time unending. This is one aspect of eternal life. Once created, a man or woman will, in fact, live forever. God is a giver. For real. When He gives something, He does not take it away. I.e., When God gave the earth to mankind to have dominion over, He meant it. It was man's for re...

David, the man after God's own heart, started night and day worship in a tent, called the tabernacle, that changed the land of Israel in a profound way. Night and day worship and prayer seems like an odd thing to try and create. It is expensive, and time consuming. Certainly many in David's day thought it was a waste of time and resources. David hired 4,000 singers and musicians, and 24,000 support staff just to maintain the night and day worship: 1 Chronicles 23:4-5 Then David said, “From all the Levites, 24,000 will supervise the work at the Temple of the Lord. Another 6,000 will serve as officials and judges. Another 4,000 will work as gatekeepers, and 4,000 will praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have made.” Can you imagine even 1,000 people working full time to make night and day worship happen in SW Michigan? Imagine 30,000!! The king was committed to this idea. Most would say "what a waste! Don't sit around praying and worshiping, go DO something!...

There has never been a man "more alive" than Jesus. Everywhere He went the first time He was here on earth, life sprang up. Blind saw, deaf heard, lame walked, dead came to life...but even more: hearts burned with passion, lives were made new on the inside, and many saw the love overflowing from the heart of the Father through His Son and ambassador, Jesus. Jesus who is God, and was always with God before the time of creation, for love, was willing to become a man to redeem those lost to sin: Philippians 2:5-9 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges ; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, Jesus se...

Proverbs 14:4 Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest. There are only two places in the New Testament where the Lord promises a blessing for keeping and teaching a message: the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7) and the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Matthew 5:19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. These two teachings are divinely intertwined. The Book of Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus Christ as the soon coming king over all the nations of the earth, and the Sermon on the Mount is a divine manual for agreeing with Jesus about becoming the king of my mind, will, and emotions in advance of the physical...

Psalms 17:2 Let my vindication come from Your presence; Let Your eyes look on the things that are upright. Who is Jesus? John 1:1-13 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in H...

There is trouble on the horizon. No one really wants to hear it, but that doesn't change the fact that it is there. You can deny the reality of a situation, but you cannot escape the consequences of that reality, if it truly is real. The Bible is clear about the condition of the world right now. It doesn't take a very studied watching of the media, politics, or religion to see a great convergence of deception starting to blur the lines between the three. Many want to call this a conspiracy. It clearly is not a human conspiracy: Isaiah 8:11-13 For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread. Ephesians 6:12-13 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, again...

When God made you, He broke the mold! There is no one else who has ever been like you. Not another set of fingerprints, eyes, and cheeks were arranged like yours. Even more so, there has never been another mind that considers information like yours, or an emotional mix quite like yours. There has never been anyone like you, and there never will be. You are the one and only you! Tons of self-help books and practices have emerged in the earth. They all promise the same thing: heart and life change. Self-help books and programs promise every heart the same result if you will just consider the information they are offering. This is impossible. Reading a book or going to a meeting might get you excited for a moment, but there is only one person that can change a heart...the one who designed it, in all its intricacies, in the first place: Psalms 33:13-15 The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth; He fa...

Psalms 91:1-2 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord , “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 9-11 Because you have made the Lord , who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 14-16 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation. Abiding in the secret place of the Most High doesn't happen by accident! You can belong to Jesus and NOT abide in the secret place of the Most High. Because of love, and the free will love requires, I have to choose where I will abide hour by hour......

I Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? This is the one the most glorious truths for a redeemed human in all of creation. The Holy Spirit...the fullness of the Genesis 1 Creator God...the One who "hovered over the unformed waters"...the power of God on Earth...lives in ME! At the time a person gives their life to Jesus, their formerly dead spirit is fully justified, and the Holy Spirit takes up residence there. From that day forward, God, who owns it all and directs it all, lives in them! Whether you are 3 years old, or 100 years old, the same Holy Spirit lives in you the moment you chose Jesus. I don't spend nearly enough time living into the truth of this reality!! John 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. The Holy Spirit is God, and is the fullness of every good thing. Love, Joy,...

God has a plan for this city. His plan is to unite His Bride in SW Michigan in a unique way as a model to the nations of what the Body of Jesus looks and acts like. Right now the beginning stages of this amazing move of God are actually becoming more and more visible...tangible...by the day. The fact that the Father has selected Kalamazoo to be a forerunner to this end-time move of God is amazing, but true. God uses the weak things of the world to confound the wise: I Corinthians 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; God is in the process of changing hearts about values, tradition, doctrine and agreement. He is doing this because when the Bride operates as one body real authority is given to her in a unique way. God is the perfection of unity. The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are in such perfect agreement, they ARE One. They don't act like O...

God has a plan for this city. His plan is to unite His Bride in SW Michigan in a unique way as a model to the nations of what the Body of Jesus looks and acts like. Right now the beginning stages of this amazing move of God are actually becoming more and more visible...tangible...by the day. The fact that the Father has selected Kalamazoo to be a forerunner to this end-time move of God is amazing, but true. God uses the weak things of the world to confound the wise: I Corinthians 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; God is in the process of changing hearts about values, tradition, doctrine and agreement. He is doing this because when the Bride operates as one body real authority is given to her in a unique way. God is the perfection of unity. The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are in such perfect agreement, they ARE One. They don't act like O...

Loyalty to Jesus is the final battle. This shouldn't be surprising, since loyalty to God was the first temptation and the first failure. Adam and Eve's rebellion brought to earth the rebellion that had already erupted in heaven. Satan was creation's first rebel. The Bible tells us the nature of satan's fall: Ezekiel 28:13-18 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of ...

There is something special about my city. God feels strongly about SW Michigan. He really does. When I first moved here in 1991, I knew this was the place for me. I moved away for a few months in 1992, and when I got back into town, I knew I would never move again. I was made for this time and this place. God put a little bit of His love for this area in my heart. Over the last couple of years, God has been revealing to me, little by little, how clearly the events of Revelation...the events surrounding the return of Jesus...are in the Bible. Not just in the book of Revelation itself, but throughout the Bible. Once I started to see how plainly it is laid out, I couldn't "unsee" it. I think of it like those techy pictures in frames at the mall that have the hidden picture in them. You can look at one of those for hours and just see blue lines...then bam...once you see the shark, or spaceship, or whatever is in there, you can't unsee it! This has changed my entire life. ...

Unity among God's people, with Him in the center of that unity is one of the most pleasing things to God. God is a Father, and as a parent myself, I know when my kids are getting along, and care about what I care about, our house is blessed! Those who were held up by God as leaders in the most intense times understood this concept and lived it out...humbling themselves to maintain unity. Moses, David, Nehemiah, Esther, Paul...these men and women lived in intense times of fierce opposition to God's purposes and plans, yet they were successful in leading God's people to safety and forward in God's ultimate purposes. They all understood this concept: Psalms 133:1-3 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded th...

We live in a generation of immense intensity and immense promise. To watch the events of our day unfold through the lens of Biblical prophecy and to see the things Jesus promised actually happening is almost unreal. The weight and incredible privilege of living in this generation is almost too heavy and glorious for me to comprehend. It really is the most blessed generation to ever get to be a part of. Men and women of God throughout the generations have longed to see the days we get to live out. One of the last things Jesus prayed for was that the Church would be one, as God is One (John 17:23). Jesus will get what He prayed for. The Bible is clear that He will get it in the generation that witnesses His return. Jesus addresses 7 distinct church groups in Revelation 2 and 3, but once the Tribulation starts in Revelation 6, the Church is only referred to as one Bride. We are the makings of a Bride who has "made herself ready" through the time of tribulation: Revelation 19:7-8...